Long Beach City College officers open fire on dog at Veteran's Stadium

Dog, officers unharmed in shooting on Long Beach's Eastside.

LONG BEACH — Long Beach Police Department homicide detectives are investigating an officer-involved shooting that occurred after an unleashed dog charged some college police officers, authorities said Thursday.

Neither the dog nor any of the Long Beach City College officers were hit when the shooting occurred at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Veteran's Memorial Stadium, 5000 E. Lew Davis St., next to the community college's Liberal Arts Campus, said Nancy Pratt, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.

"Uniformed Special Services Officers assigned to Long Beach City College were investigating an open gate at the stadium," Pratt said. "When the officers entered the stadium, which was closed to the public, they observed a subject inside with his dog, a large mixed breed."

As the armed officers approached the dog's owner the unleashed dog charged them, prompting at least one officer to open fire, Pratt said.

"The dog was not hit, and after the shots were fired, the dog quickly turned and ran out of the stadium," Pratt said.

The dog's owner and the officers were also unharmed, she added.

Backup units were able to follow the dog back to its home, where Long Beach Animal Care Services officers were called out to talk to the dog's owners about the city's leash law, she said.

Long Beach Police Department Homicide detectives are investigating the incident, as is department policy for all officer-involved shootings, Pratt said.